The cooking pan assembly of the invention may be used in conjunction with the rack described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,172 which issued July 18, 1972 in the name of the present inventor, and which is assigned to the present Assignee.
As described in the patent, tuna fish must be pre-cooked before it is canned, and the pre-cooking of tuna is normally carried out in a pressure chamber using steam heat. The steam heat has the double effect of cooking the tuna, and of also causing fish oils to be produced. The fish oils are used, for example, in the manufacture of vitamin pills, and also in the paint industry. In the past, it has been the usual practice in the industry to cook the tuna in wire baskets supported on large racks in appropriate cooking ovens. However, as explained in the patent, such prior art racks and baskets are wasteful of space and are difficult to clean. Also, the cooked fish has a tendency to stick to the wires of the baskets resulting in substantial wastage.
The pans described in the patent are preferably made of stainless sheets, rather than wire, and the use of appropriate release agents was suggested in the patent, such as palm oil or lecithin, to prevent the fish from sticking to the surface of the pan. The pans described in the patent were constructed to have a crown-shaped bottom which defined troughs or gutters at the sides thereof to collect the fish oils produced during the cooking process.
It was found that the stainless steel pans described in the patent provided adequate heat circulation to the fish being cooked therein, and that they also provided adequate means for drawing off the fish oils produced during the cooking process.
The pan of the present invention has all of the features of the pans described in Pat. No. 3,677,172, and, likewise, is constructed of sheet metal, such as stainless steel. The bottom of the pan of the present invention, however, is constructed to define a lower surface which is essentially flat, and which has two side rails extending along the side edges thereof from one end of the pan to the other, so as to facilitate the transport of the pans on usual conveyors within the cooking plant.
The pans of the present invention are also constructed to define troughs at each side of the upper surface of the bottom, and which extend from one end of the pan to the other to drain off the fish oils. Moreover, the pans of the present invention have wire-formed ends which serve as handles and barriers for the contents of the pans, and which are crimped loosely to the bottoms and sides of the pans so as to avoid the formation of bacteriaaccumulating areas, and to enable the pans to be cleaned and washed thoroughly by a simple spray operation.